Komposo ni Rodielyn sa Tacayan

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“Komposo ni Rodielyn sa Tacayan” was composed by Tumandok children during the Children’s Rehabilitation Center fact-finding mission in barangay Tacayan, Tapaz, Capiz in October 2012. Rodielyn Aguirre was killed by an M203 grenade explosion. The “Komposo” was also performed by Tumandok children during the 9th Tumanduk Assembly in barangay Aglinab, Tapaz, Capiz last January 18, 2014. I am posting the lyrics of the song followed by my and Karlo’s rough English translation as well as the case report by the human rights alliance Karapatan.

All of you listen to me I will narrate a history In the town of Tapaz, barrio of Tacayan One battalion is the cause

The evil of the 61st immediately emerged On a Sunday, the tenth of March Of the year twenty twelve, Exactly three O’clock it happened there

According to Erminia, cousin of Rodielyn After the explosion she saw Two soldiers running From the farm near the house

From so much fright she ran The house of Odloy was hit Upon arriving she saw The two children were wounded

The older dead on the spot, the second in grave condition Rodielyn told her grandfather Before she ran out of breath “Grandpa bring me in the house because I am hit, Apply hagonoy because I am wounded”

So parents and children Our call is for us not to allow the abuse of our rights Even if our lives we shall offer If our rights they shall violate

To all who are listening and gathering here today If I have a mistake do forgive me because I have nothing more to say

From Karapatan 2012 Year-End Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines:

In Tacayan village, Tapaz, Capiz province, a six year-old Tumandok girl was killed in an explosion by a suspected M203 grenade that came from a nearby military detachment. On March 11, Rodielyn Aguirre and her four year-old sister “Baby” were outside their home when they were hit by an explosion. Just some 200 meters uphill was a detachment of the 61st IB. Villagers reported that an army personnel named Willy Faulo has been issued an M203 rifle. The detachment had been in the village for years and had often been the subject of complaints by residents.

Military spokesperson Capt. Reylan Java, of the 3rd Infantry Division, concocted a story that not only Rodielyn but two NPAs were also killed from an improvised explosive device (IED) that exploded while they were assembling it. Later, the military changed the story line and said that the police should investigate how the cartridge happened to be in the house. They cited a police report which said that Rodielyn was last seen holding a bolo and chopping wood; they said she must have played with an M203 grenade which she placed on top of a log and hit with the bolo. Soldiers claimed in their affidavits that the charges against them were “purely harassment from CPP-NPA-NDF.”

The victims’ grandfather Julian Aguirre belied the military claims. Village officials who went to the detachment to seek assistance in the investigation said soldiers at the detachment did not budge, saying that they did not hear any explosion, despite their proximity to the site. They even challenged the residents to smell their guns to prove that they were not fired (p.17).